Soil Ingestion Colloquium (2005)

Report Information

On May 24-25, 2005, the U.S. EPA Colloquium on Soil/Dust Ingestion Rates and Mouthing Behavior for Children and Adults (Colloquium) was held at the Holiday Inn National Airport in Crystal City, Virginia. The purpose of the Colloquium was to convene an expert panel to assess the state of knowledge on soil/dust ingestion research for children and adults. Because mouthing behavior is closely related to childrens soil and dust ingestion, mouthing behavior research also was included as a major topic. The Colloquium was designed to assist EPA in answering the following questions:

What is the state of knowledge on soil/dust ingestion and mouthing behavior?

Where should the state of knowledge be in order for EPA to make better decisions for the protection of children and adults from these pathways?

How can EPA and the scientific community advance the science (i.e., what research is needed)?

This summary report captures the major content of the presentations, breakout groups, and discussions/recommendations that occurred at the Colloquium. Presentation slides, organized sequentially by the order of presentation, the Colloquium agenda, and contact information of all the participants are included in this report as Appendices A, B, and C, respectively.

Several studies have been conducted to estimate ingestion of soil by both children and adults. The Exposure Factors Handbook summarizes soil ingestion studies conducted up to 1997, but several new papers have been published since then, causing the need for a forum to discuss these recent findings.